Consett 2nd XV cash-in on double header

With a match-day squad of 20, Captain James Watson assembled a formidable team to take to the Hill View Playing Fields, fully aware the team could be in for a tough game having been beaten by the same opposition earlier in the season 5-32 in what was classed as a friendly due to no recognised referee turning up.

After a scrappy opening 10 minutes, Consett scored the first of the seven tries they would eventually cross for. Following a couple of excellent line breaks from second-rows Ian McGeorge and Martin Urwin, centre Matthew Varley found himself in space to run in under the posts, with Adam Wilkinson slotting the conversion.

The second try came not long after. Winning a line-out through Harry Gray ten metres from the Sunderland line, the maul gained momentum as it surged to the whitewash, with Urwin coming up from the pile of bodies as the scorer.

Consett scored their third immediately from the re-start. Taking the kick-off, Gray surged into the opposition half before quick ball enabled centre Johnny Hall to make further gains. Gathering the ball from scrum half Dan Patchcott, Urwin again broke the first tackle to penetrate the opposition twenty-two. Offloading to the supporting Patchcott, the scrum-half in turn found No8 Bradley Sotheran who held off the covering defender to score.

Consett should have further extended their lead before half-time, with a couple of chances going begging. The most notable was when Gray again broke through some weak tackles, only to unfortunately stumble and lose the ball forward with the line at his mercy. It was to be one of his final actions in a superb performance as injury meant he was replaced by tenacious back-row Dale Graham.

With a noticeable slope and the wind in their favour in the second half, Watson asked for his team to be more ruthless and clinical, keeping Sunderland backed-up in their own half. His request was met, with the opposition never stepping foot in the Consett half of the pitch with the ball in their hands as excellent tackling and clever kicks kept Sunderland pinned down.

The bonus-point securing fourth try came eight minutes into the second half. After sucking in defenders through strong forward running, the ball was spun wide to winger Wilkinson. Collecting the ball on the bounce, the speedster broke the first tackle before rounding three more defenders to cruise in under the posts.

After Patchcott had been sin-binned for an infringement in a maul, Watson began to ring the changes. Dale Raine replaced McGeorge in second-row, whilst Cameron Holiday was brought on for Dean Shaw. Connor Gates slotted in at scrum-half as Wilkinson was sacrificed, and Scott Murphy replaced Sotheran at No8, but not before ‘Bear’ had set up Hall to score the fifth of the day by offloading to the powerful centre who brushed off two attempted tackles in making his way to the line. Hall converted his own score.

With the opposition noticeably tiring, and suffering injuries that called on some of their more long-in-the-tooth players, the away side were finding more gaps to exploit. After an excellent run by Raine from a re-start, fly-half Adam French set off on a mazy run deep into Sunderland territory. Offloading to the supporting Andy Bennett, the back-row held off the tackler to set-up hooker Robbie Stobbs who made it 0-34.

The final try of the game came from Varley, who again broke through some tiring defenders to cruise in under the posts. On consulting the clock, it was clear the referee had stopped the game a fair way short of the full 80 minutes.

A solid performance by a strong, relatively young Consett side who did exactly what they set out to do in securing a bonus-point victory. Against tougher opposition, the team will need to look for more structure and utilise the formidable back-line, as emphasised by full-back Steven Hodgson and wing Matthew Stewart touching the ball less than ten times between them. With no game currently scheduled for next week, the next and potentially last game of the season will be against Hartlepool Rovers II on Saturday 26th April.